Aishiteru: Ryou's Gift
by My Left Eye Sees Ghosts
Summary: Inspired by Ember Mage's Chained to a Letter. Ryou's affectionate emotions for Lettuce are discovered when a letter he was writing to her in secrecy is found. All the other Mew Mews and even Tasuku all pitch in to help Ryou express his feelings.
1. Letters, Cheerleaders, and Pudding

Aishiteru: Ryou's Gift

Summary: Ryou's affectionate emotions for Lettuce are discovered when a letter he was writing to her in secrecy is found. Pudding, Ichigo, Minto, Ringo, Zakuro, Berry, and even Tasuku all pitch in and help him to express his feelings.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. Duh.

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Chapter 1: Letters, Cheerleaders, and Pudding

"Wheee! Look at me, na no da! I can spin plates! Around and around and around and arou-"

"Would you please stop that, Pudding? I'm trying to have my tea."

What can we say? It was pretty much a normal Saturday morning at Café Mew Mew. Except today, the cute pink café was completely deserted, minus the Mews. There wasn't a customer in sight.

Just then, Berry popped in waving around a piece of paper containing Ichigo's childish handwriting. "Ichigo-chan is out with Ringo-chan, who just came back from the reservation, so she left me this note!" the French-Japanese girl announced loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. "It says here," she continued, this time reading from Ichigo's note, "that inventory must be taken in the storerooms. And Akasaka-san is out judging a baking contest, Tasuku-kun has his guitar lesson today, and Lettuce-chan is home sick with a cold."

Everyone sighed at hearing that three people were out. However, Pudding broke the mourning and suggested: "Pudding will take inventory, na no da!"

"Go ahead, Pudding. No one else wants to do it," Minto said, and Pudding bounced down to the storerooms.

"Well, back to work!" Berry said cheerfully, but Zakuro came in and told her that there weren't any customers.

Berry, Zakuro, and Minto all heaved a heavy sigh.

"WE'RE LOW ON SUGAR NA NO DA!" screamed Pudding from the storerooms, scaring the heck out of the three bored girls.

"GO TELL SHIROGANE! HE'S IN HIS ROOM!" Berry screamed back, followed by a scolding from Minto to lower her voice.

Pudding immediately skittered up from the storerooms, swooshed past the three older girls, and dashed upstairs to Ryou's room. The small Chinese acrobat flung open the door to the blonde boy's room and screamed: "KONNICHIWA SHIROGANE-SAN NA NO DA!"

Ryou was so startled he fell out of his chair, thrusting the clipboard and pencil he was holding into the air.

Pudding caught both the clipboard and the pencil skillfully and examined the paper attached to the clipboard carefully. She saw that Ryou was writing a letter, which read:

_My Dearest Midorikawa,_

_I give you my best wishes for you to get well soon. I also want to tell you how much you mean to me. You are_

Pudding finished reading Ryou's unfinished letter and eyed the boy suspiciously. Ryou, who had managed to pull himself together and climb back onto his chair, glared back at Pudding and calmly asked, "What?" He thought that if he just remained calm and didn't say too much, she'd forget about it and go away. Boy was he wrong.

Pudding cutely hopped into Ryou's room (which consists of a desk with a computer and a bed) and hopped onto the bed, saying in a very innocent voice: "Well, I originally came to tell you we were low on sugar." The monkey-girl paused for a second, then changed her tone of voice and yelled: "BUT THEN I FOUND OUT YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON LETTUCE-ONEE-CHAN NA NO DA!"

"Shhhhh! Not so loud! Do you want the whole world to hear!" Ryou hissed, blushing slightly.

Pudding took this the wrong way and immediately responded by yelling: "SO IT'S TRUE! YOU DO LIKE HER NA NO DA!"

Ryou slapped his forehead and rubbed his temples in frustration. He knew perfectly well that it WAS true, but he wasn't going to give in that easily. "No, no, no! It's not like that!" he moaned. "It's just that..."

"DON'T FIGHT IT SHIROGANE YOU'RE IN LOVE NA NO DA!" Pudding screamed and jumped up and down on the bed, throwing in an aerial or so every now and then.

"Don't do that!" Ryou whined. "You're going to pop the springs out of my bed!"

Pudding continued her acrobatic jumping while saying: "Who cares? You're going to have to get a new one anyway! There's no way this little cot could sleep TWO people, na no da!"

Ryou was taken aback by this. "WHADYA MEAN 'TWO PEOPLE'!" he demanded, losing his cool. The acrobat-girl was driving him nuts!

Pudding did a flip in mid-air off the bed, landed neatly in front of the boy, and giggled. "What I mean is," she explained, "is that there's no way you AND Lettuce-onee-chan can sleep together in that little cot, na no da! You need a bigger bed, na no da!"

"WHAAAAAAAAT!" Ryou screamed. His eyes were flaming, his face was fuming (from anger and blushing), and a big popped-vein had appeared on top of his blonde head. In other words, he was ANNOYED. No, beyond annoyed. PISSED OFF.

"Don't you 'WHAAAAAAAT!' me! I can see that blush, Shirogane," Pudding sassed and crossed her arms, deliberately imitating her snobby friend, Minto.

Ryou growled and grabbed the nearest pen and starting chewing on it, mumbling under his breath between bites about how he'd kill the acro-brat if he ever got his hands on her.

At that very moment, a big smile spread across Pudding's face. "DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE LETTER NA NO DA!" she yelled and pulled out the clipboard she had gotten a hold of earlier.

"GIMME THAT!" Ryou bellowed and threw down his chewed-up pen, and chased after the small blonde girl, trying to get a hold of his clipboard. For a high-school-aged boy, Ryou was being very immature.

Pudding was too fast for the boy. She leaped back 10 feet into the hallway and dashed downstairs, cackling maniacally but triumphantly, and holding the clipboard hostage.

Ryou ran after the acrobat-girl, but by the time he was only halfway down the stairs, she was already out of sight, so he gave up and dragged himself back up to his room, this time remembering to lock the door.

Pudding, meanwhile, had found Minto, Zakuro, and Berry in the storerooms taking inventory. The three girls didn't know exactly what was going on because the storerooms were in the basement, which was soundproof. But they could figure out that Pudding and Ryou had had a fight. Pudding hadn't shown them the letter yet, though.

Right now, the monkey-girl was in a different room in the basement, calling Ichigo on Berry's cell phone. She thought that if there was anyone who knew what to do with Ryou, it'd be the strawberry-girl.

Phone Conversation:

I: Moshi-moshi?

P: ICHIGO-ONEE-CHAN NA NO DA!

I: AAAAAAAAUGH! PUDDING! WHAT IS IT! NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA!

P: We need you and Ringo to come to the café right away! It's about Ryou, na no da!

I: Ryou? But the Saint Rose Crusaders have left us alone since-

P: It's not the SRC, na no da. It's about Ryou's cruuuuuusshhhhh...

I: Oh I see. Who is it?

P: You'll see. You and Ringo just come right away, na no da! Oh, and do you think you can get your two cheerleader friends to come too? Tell them to wear their cheer gear, na no da!

I: You mean Moe and Miwa? I'll try. See ya in about 15 minutes, OK?

End Conversation

Pudding came back into the storerooms and returned the cell phone to its rightful owner. Berry put the phone back into her waitress uniform pocket. "What was that?" she asked the acrobat-girl.

Pudding put on an innocent look. "Oh, nothing," she said in a sing-song voice.


	2. Truth, Poetry, and Ichigo

Chapter 2: Truth, Poetry and Ichigo

As she had promised, Ichigo arrived right on time with Ringo. As usual, Pudding greeted them with a hearty "ICHIGO-ONEE-CHAN! RINGO-ONEE-CHAN! PUDDING IS GLAD YOU'RE HERE NA NO DA!"

The two older girls were scared half-to-death, and Ichigo's ears and tail popped out, but the two girls soon recovered.

"What is it, Pudding-onee-chan? Ichigo and Ringo came, just like you wanted," Ringo said.

Pudding immediately snapped to business. "Ringo, I need you to help the other girls take inventory in the storerooms. Help them count silverware, na no da." With that, the monkey-girl led the apple-girl downstairs to the storerooms, and ran upstairs to where Ichigo was still waiting.

Pudding pulled out the clipboard and handed it to Ichigo, who read the letter attached and smirked. "Shirogane's...in love...with Lettuce..."

"That's right!" Pudding said. "And your job is to help him express his feelings, na no da!"

A wide smile formed on Ichigo's face. "We all know Ryou can't express his feelings to a fly. This'll be fun!"

But something else was on Pudding's mind right now. "Where's Moe and Miwa?" she asked the cat-girl.

"Uhhh...somewhere...?" Ichigo answered hesitantly. She didn't want to tell the monkey-girl that her two friends had caught the half-price sale at the mall. "But they'll be here in half an hour or so," she added.

"Hmmmm..." Pudding mused thoughtfully. "That'll do. Now go do your job, Ichigo-onee-chan, na no da!" The monkey-girl beamed proudly.

"I'm on it!" Ichigo said cheerfully, and skipped upstairs to Ryou's room, clipboard in hand. She knocked on the blonde boy's door.

"What?" came Ryou's familiar voice.

"It's Ichigo," the strawberry girl replied.

Ryou came to the door and opened it. "What is it?"

"I've come to help you, nya!" the cat-girl meowed.

"Oh no!" Ryou groaned. "Help me with what?"

"This!" Ichigo announced proudly and pulled out the clipboard.

"AAAAAAAUGH! WHERE'D YOU GET THAT!" Ryou screamed and snatched the clipboard right out of Ichigo's hand. The cat-girl yelped in pain and screamed bloody murder until Ryou told her to shut up.

Ichigo quickly recovered and walked into the room. Ryou turned and followed her, locking the door behind them and setting the clipboard on the floor.

The cat-girl stationed herself so that she and Ryou were eye-to-eye with each-other (this means Ichigo had to stand on her tiptoes). Her brown eyes dug into his aquamarine ones. She had a very serious look on her face, which scared Ryou, because he knew that Ichigo never used that face unless something was really bad.

There was a moment of silence. Ichigo broke it after about 15 seconds and said in a very serious voice to the blonde boy: "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Of course, Ryou knew exactly what she meant, but he decided to play stupid to stall her.

"Do...you...like...Lettuce?" Ichigo bore her eyes deeper into his. She hardened her expression even more.

Ryou turned away. "N-no, of course not," he managed to stutter while trying to hide the blush that was spreading across his face. Of course, he was lying.

Ichigo's expression immediately softened. "Shirogane, you are the worst liar in the history of the world!" the cat-girl said in a very chipper voice. "Next time you wanna lie to me, make sure you make eye contact. And speak clearly if you really mean what you say!"

He was caught! And by a girl too! Ryou slapped his forehead and moaned.

Ichigo made her welcome-to-the-café pose. "Gotcha!" she sang cheerfully. "Now admit it. Do you like her?"

Ryou slammed his head against the wall. "Yes," he mumbled. He couldn't try to deny the truth again.

The cat-girl got out of her pose and put her hands together. "That's so sweet, Shirogane! Even though we all knew your little secret all along, it's great that you're finally going to get out of your shell and tell her how you feel."

Ryou stopped groveling against the wall. "How'd you know?"

Ichigo rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Well, DUH, it's SOOOOOOO obvious. Remember when you had that big party on that cruise ship? Remember the ORANGE JUICE you gave her?"

Of course he remembered. "That was because she was sick," he argued. "I bet Keiichiro would've done the same thing."

The cat-girl folded her arms across her chest. "Akasaka is a ladies-man. But remember, afterwards you told her to believe in herself. You would've NEVER said something like that to me."

Ryou snorted. "Your ego is already as big as your mouth." He decided not to mention anything about whether or not that meant he liked her.

Ichigo did a strange thing and ignored the insult. Instead she said: "Remember when she accidentally dropped a teapot on your foot? You didn't yell at her. You weren't even mad. But you'd NEVER let ME get away with that!"

Ryou put his hands in his pockets. "That's because that was an accident, and it was her first day here. Besides, it's only reasonable that she'd drop that teapot because you girls were bugging her so much."

Ichigo waved her hand around. "Details, details," she said in a business-like manner. "What's important now is that you admit the truth. Now, about that letter..."

Ryou sighed. "What about it?"

Ichigo shook her head and made a tsk-tsking sound. "You're a cheap man, Shirogane."

"What?" The blonde boy was confused.

Ichigo sighed exasperatedly. "You can do better than a LETTER! Even a CARD is better than a LETTER!"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "A card? Who do I look like to you?"

"OK, well, maybe not a card," Ichigo said and twirled a lock of her red hair between her fingers. "I know! How about a poem?"

Ryou crinkled his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. "A poem!"

"Yeah yeah, a poem," Ichigo mused thoughtfully. "Like...like...Ichigo is pink, Minto is blue, I am blonde, and I love you."

Ryou wasn't impressed. "Did you just make that up off the top of your head?" he asked.

It was Ichigo's turn to narrow her eyes. "So what if I did?" she demanded.

Ryou wasn't intimidated. "Well, it's not much of a poem."

"It sure beats your letter!" Ichigo screamed and popped a vein.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Ryou asked calmly.

Ichigo immediately forgot her anger and grabbed the nearest writing utensil. Seconds later, she was yelling bloody murder. "EEEWWWWW! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PEN! IT'S BEEN HALF-EATEN BY AN ALIEN!"

Ryou snatched the pen from Ichigo's hand. It was, indeed, the one he had been chewing on earlier. He handed the strawberry-girl another pencil, who took it and grabbed a piece of paper from the printer. She plopped herself down at the computer desk and began her masterpiece.

"The secret is making it look professional," the cat-girl said while drawing a fancy curlicue border on the paper. "Girls think that guys who really like them will bring them something expensive."

Ryou looked at Ichigo's artwork and rolled his eyes. He thought it looked like an 8-year-old's drawing. "Well, THAT sure doesn't look very expensive," he retorted. "What is it anyway?"

"It's designer stationary for you to write a poem on!" Ichigo yelled. "And it's the best I can do, so you'd better appreciate it!" She bent over her paper and went back to drawing.

Ryou tapped his foot and waited for the strawberry-girl to finish up her "designer stationary".

A few minutes later, Ichigo proudly yelled "DONE!" and handed her pencil and stationary to the blonde boy. "Now write a poem!" she commanded him. "If you don't like mine, then write one on your own."

Ryou thought he was probably the least poetic person on the planet. So he decided to stall her, or even better, get her out of his room. "Say, Strawberry," he began, purposefully using a cute nickname: "don't you have something to do with your OWN boyfriend?"

Ichigo looked surprised. "No, he has kendo practice right now. Why?"

Kendo practice! He hadn't thought of that! "Well, isn't it getting a bit late?" he asked instead.

The cat-girl looked at her watch. "No, it's only 10:30 AM." Then her face brightened up. "Wait, Moe and Miwa should be here any minute!" she said happily.

Yes, his plan was working. "Well, shouldn't you go see to them?" he asked slyly.

Being the naïve person that she is, the strawberry-girl had no suspicions at all that the blonde boy was trying to make her go away. "Yes, I think I should!" she said in a chipper voice. "Good luck, Shirogane!" The cat-girl skipped out the door, slamming it noisily behind her.

The blonde boy waited for a few seconds and then sang Hallelujah.

Meanwhile, after discovering that Moe and Miwa were unable to make it to the cafe for a while, Ichigo had run down to the storerooms to tell Minto (and only Minto) what had happened. The cat-girl simply wanted the bird-girl to do something for a change.

A crafty smile formed on Minto's face.


	3. Sketches, Lovebirds, and Minto

Chapter 3: Sketches, Lovebirds, and Minto

After Ichigo had told her to help Ryou, Minto calmly walked upstairs and knocked politely on the blonde boy's door.

An "AAAAARGH!" was heard from the other side of the door, followed by heavy footsteps. Seconds later, a very beat-up-looking Ryou opened the door. Upon seeing the bird-girl, the blonde boy banged his head against the door. "What?" he mumbled exhaustingly.

The ballerina beamed snobbishly. "Well, you need help and I'm here to help."

Ryou straightened up and snorted. "Well, this must be a very special occasion in order for YOU to offer help."

Minto rolled her eyes. "Duh! That's because it IS a very special occasion. You need help expressing your love for a girl you've known for, like, a year now. Isn't that special?"

"Stop rubbing it in!" Ryou snapped. "I didn't realize that...never mind. Just come in."

Minto didn't budge. "Didn't realize what?" she questioned.

Ryou slapped his forehead for, like, the fifth time today. "Didn't realize how I felt about her until she got sick, OK?"

Minto tenderly folded her arms and put a sly look on her face. "Didn't realize how you felt about WHOM now?" she questioned teasingly.

"Midorikawa, OK!" Ryou blurted in frustration. He was mentally screaming bloody murder.

Minto enjoyed playing with the boy's emotions. "Embarrassed to call your love by her first name, Shirogane?" she questioned with innocence.

"Aizawa, please..."

"Oh, OK." The bird-girl sighed and walked into the room. Ryou followed and locked the door behind them.

Upon entering the room, Minto spotted the "designer stationary" Ichigo had made earlier lying on the desk. She walked to it and picked it up, examining it closely. "What's this?" she asked no one in particular.

Ryou looked in Minto's direction and saw that she was holding the piece of stationary he was supposed to write a poem on. Of course, he never got down to doing it. "Oh that," he began. "That's something Straw-I mean, Momomiya made a few minutes ago."

Minto set the stationary back down on the desk and smiled mockingly. "Of course Ichigo made that," she snootily stated. "It's so poorly-drawn."

Ryou nodded. He, too, thought that the strawberry-girl was definitely not the best artist in the world.

Just then an idea came to Minto. "Hey," she started. "Why don't you draw a picture for her? Girls like guys who are artistic."

Ryou sighed. "That's a good idea and all, but I'm not artistic."

Minto beamed in a stuck-up way. "Allow me," she said, grabbing a piece of paper from the printer. The ballerina primly sat down at the desk, neatly placing the paper in front of her. She then took a pencil from the pencil-holder and began sketching carefully.

Ryou bent over Minto's shoulder. "What are you drawing?" he asked her curiously.

"You'll see," she told Ryou. She continued working painstakingly. The boy sprawled out onto his bed and started counting the ceiling tiles, waiting for the bird-girl to finish her drawing.

After about 20 minutes or so, Minto finished her sketch and showed it to Ryou. It was a very realistically drawn and nicely shaded pencil sketch of two birds closely perched together on a branch. The smaller female bird was cuddling tenderly against the larger male bird's fluffy chest. The larger male bird had his wing around the smaller female bird in a protective but warm hug.

"What do you think?" Minto asked while beaming. She was very proud of her work.

Ryou stared at the drawing for a long time. It was so finely drawn that it was almost real. He secretly wished that he was the larger bird and Lettuce was the smaller bird. He would let her snuggle against him while he hugged her tenderl-

"Shirogane, earth to Shirogane..."

Ryou snapped out his reverie and turned towards Minto. "Wh-what?" he stammered.

Minto shook her head. "Daydreaming about your lovebird, Shirogane?" she asked teasingly. "Well, what do you think of my drawing?"

Ryou had to think fast. "Well...knowing you..." he faltered, "I'd think you'd draw dogs...not birds...since dogs are your favorite animal..."

Minto became impatient. "Well, 'lovedogs' doesn't make any sense. So I went with birds instead, since 'lovebirds' actually made sense. And I AM fused with bird genes."

"Right...uhhh..."

"Don't you 'uhhh...' me!" Minto snapped. "Tell me...is my drawing good or not?"

"It's umm...very good..." Ryou stuttered.

Minto beamed again. "Is it good enough to give to Lettuce?" she questioned curiously.

"Uhhh...sure..." Ryou hesitated. He really didn't think he could pluck up the courage to give something that romantic to her.

"Then my work here is done," Minto stated with pride. She handed the drawing to Ryou and prissily walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. Ryou set the drawing down on his desk next to the stationary. He then waited until Minto's sharp clicking footsteps could no longer be heard, and then he gave a huge sigh of relief.

In the meantime, Minto had made her way down to the storerooms to check on the other girls' progress. She found Berry, Ichigo, Zakuro, and Pudding in one room checking flour levels. Then she found Ringo in a different room next door counting silverware. The ballerina decided to tell the apple-girl what was going on with Ryou. Ringo, who was usually mellow, suddenly became very excited.


	4. Musicals, Profanities, and Ringo

Chapter 4: Broadway Musicals, English Profanities, and Ringo

Ringo happily skipped up the stairs. She took a while to find Ryou's room because she had never been upstairs in the café before. But when she found it (she peeked under the door to make sure), she knocked politely on the door.

A huge annoyed sigh came from inside the room. Seconds later, a Ryou with very messy hair showed up at the door. "What?" he grunted. As soon as he saw Ringo grin up at him, the boy moaned and groaned.

"Ringo's here to help you, Shirogane!" the apple-girl sang cheerfully. As we all know, Ringo refers to herself in third-person.

"What is it, Akaii?" Ryou asked in an irritated tone. He thought that if he had another Mew Mew visit him today, he'd burst! He shoved the apple-girl into his room and followed behind her, locking the door behind them.

"Sooo..." saccharine little Ringo continued in her syrupy way once they were in the room. "What are you planning on doing for Lettuce-onee-chan?"

"Well, Momomiya wanted me to write a poem for her, so she made some stationary; and Aizawa drew a picture for me to give to her..."

Ringo shook her head. "No, no, Shirogane. Ringo doesn't want to know what OTHERS want you do to for her. Ringo wants to know what YOU want to do for her."

Ryou stared at the apple-girl. "In that case, I have no idea," he stated nonchalantly.

The apple-girl was appalled. "No idea!" she cried. "How can you have no idea!"

"I don't know. I just don't."

Ringo became very thrilled. "Well, Ringo will give you an idea!" she exclaimed proudly. "Why don't you put on a show?"

Ryou looked confused. "A show?"

Ringo went into thought. "Yeah, a show," she pondered. "Like...a solo romantic song scene from a Broadway musical..."

"Broadway what!"

It was Ringo's turn to look confused. "Broadway musical," she repeated. "Don't tell Ringo you've never heard of that."

Ryou thought back to his childhood days when he was in America. He faintly remembered something called a Broadway musical, but the memory wasn't very clear. "What's that again?" the blonde boy asked shyly. Considering the fact that he's American teenager, he was sort of embarrassed to ask a 12-year-old Japanese girl what an American thing was.

Ringo, however, happily answered the question. "A musical," she explained: "is basically a play with a storyline, except the actors sing songs and dance as well. In America, when a musical is good enough, it goes on Broadway, a world-renowed theater and every actor & playwright's dream. After it's on Broadway, it usually gets made into a movie with new cast members and stuff. Sometimes the movies even get sold overseas, which is where Mashio, Ringo's big brother, got his collection."

Ryou listened intently, but he tried to hide his great interest. He was amazed at how much the apple-girl knew about Broadway musicals, even though she had never spent a day of her life in America. He had LIVED in America for two-thirds of his life, and he had completely forgotten what musicals were.

"So, are you ready to rehearse your show for Lettuce-onee-chan?" Ringo asked eagerly.

Ryou was instantly torn away from his thoughts and snapped back into business. "How do you know so much about this?" he inquired Ringo.

Ringo smiled cutely. "Ringo's brother Mashio has lots of Broadway musical movies, especially ones dealing with romance. Ringo sometimes sneaks a few while he's on ranger duty." Ringo then got business-like. "Enough about that. Let's work on your scene."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I can't sing," he stated indifferently.

Ringo jumped back a few steps and beamed. "Don't worry about that; just follow me," she reassured him. "Now, where should we start? Oh yes...mi mi mi mi miiii..."

Ryou braced himself. He somehow had figured out earlier that Ringo and singing do not go together well.

"LOOOOOOVVVE...is a many spleeeennnnnnn-did thiiinnng..." Ringo blared out in thickly-accented English.

Ryou futilely tried to shut the girl up. "Akaii..." he pleaded desperately, but was unheard.

"It can lift me uuupppppppp...to where you AAAAARRRRRREEEE!"

"Akaii..."

"LOOOOOOVVVE...is a rare and treasured thiiinnngggg..."

"Akaii...!"

"If you want to ask me how I'm FEEEEEL-ing..."

"Akaii, please..."

"Well, if I were a bell, I would be RIIIIIIINNNG-ing..."

"Akaii...?"

"If I were a gate, I would be SWIIIIIINNNNG-ing..."

"Akaii!"

"If I were a bell, I'd be going DING...DONG...DIIIIINNNNNG!"

"AKAII!"

Ringo stopped singing and turned her head. "What?" she asked innocently, this time speaking in Japanese.

Ryou growled. "What the –bleep-!" he cursed out loud in English, causing the apple-girl to leap backwards onto the bed. Sure, the last time he really spoke the language was a year ago when he invited American pianist Mary Maguire to play at his ball thing, but he still remembered his English swear words. "Mother-bleep-, you nearly busted my –bleep- ear off with your screeching! Where the –bleep- did you learn all those songs! Well, I don't give a –bleep- about who taught them to you. All I want is for you and all the other –bleep- Mew Mews to stop growing on my –bleep- and get the –bleep- -bleep- outta my..."

Just then the door opened and Zakuro walked in casually. "You OK, Shirogane?" she asked him nonchalantly without so much as a 'hello'.

Ryou automatically stopped cussing and calmed down. "Ah, Fujiwara-san! Uhh...yeah yeah..." he hemmed and hawed in Japanese, "we're OK..."

Zakuro walked in closer to the blonde boy. "Don't think that I didn't hear or comprehend what you just said," she said softly in English. "If Ringo really understood English, I think she would've heard more profanities in just two minutes than she had ever heard in her whole life. I think you should tune it down a bit."

"But it wasn't my fault! She was driving me nuts!" Ryou ranted, also in English.

"Shirogane, she's only a child...barely even 12 years old."

"So! What difference does that make!"

"Maybe she just wanted to help..."

"I don't need her help!"

"Just one moment, please." Zakuro turned her attention away from the blonde-boy and switched over to the apple-girl, who was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall. She had been silently watching the English conversation between the two high school students tentatively without understanding a word.

"Ringo," Zakuro said soothingly to the apple-girl in Japanese: "Shirogane's not in a good mood right now. Maybe it'd be best if you..."

Ringo miserably interrupted the wolf-girl. "Ringo knows. You want Ringo to leave." And with that the apple-girl dragged herself off the bed and out of the room, closing the door behind her. She was not smiling her usual cute, innocent smile; instead she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Look what you've done," Zakuro said to Ryou in Japanese once Ringo had walked out of the room.

"As if it were MY fault!" Ryou fumed angrily, also in Japanese.

"You should go apologize to her later," Zakuro said. "As for now, what was she trying to help you with?"

Ryou slapped his forehead. "Oh no, not again!" he moaned.


	5. Straightforwardness, CDs, and Zakuro

Chapter 5: Pop CDs, Straight-forwardness, and Zakuro

Zakuro, being an actress, leaned closer to Ryou and said seductively: "Well, what is it?"

"Ahh...Fujiwara...I..." Ryou stuttered.

Zakuro leaned closer. "You what...?"

"How'd you know what was going on up here anyway?" Ryou asked, trying to change the subject.

Zakuro broke out of her acting binge and went back to her cool self. "Well," she started: "I came up to the café area to get something. Then I heard Ringo singing really loudly in English. I thought it was pretty good for someone who's never even spent a day in America, so I decided to stay a little longer and listen from the café area. Then I heard you cursing in English, so I decided to come up here."

"So I see..." Ryou said nervously. He still couldn't believe Zakuro got all...you-know...on him, even if she was just acting. "What are you here for again?" he asked uneasily.

"You need help."

"Right...uhhhh..."

Something caught Zakuro's eye. The pop-model regally made her way to the desk and saw all the things the other girls had previously made: Ichigo's designer stationary and Minto's lovebird drawing. Then she glanced at the floor area next to the door and saw the clipboard. She walked over to it, picked it up, and read the letter attached to it. After she had read the letter, it all became very clear to her. She set the clipboard down on the desk with the other stuff. "You have a crush, don't you, Shirogane?" she inquired calmly.

"M-maybe..." Ryou stuttered. "W-what if I do?"

Zakuro looked puzzled. "Is something the matter, Shirogane?" she asked sympathetically, a rare thing for her to do. "You don't sound like yourself."

"Nah...I-I'm fine..." he lied.

"Shirogane, there's nothing wrong with liking somebody."

"W-whaaa?"

"Look at all the guys who fall head over heels for me."

"That's because you're a celebrity. And she's...well...she's not..."

"True. But still. Who is it? C'mon, you can tell me."

"N-no... it says who it is in the letter..."

"C'mon, we've been working together for over a year now, and you can't trust me enough to personally tell me who you like? If you ask me, that's sort of pathetic."

That did it. That one little line. Ryou couldn't stand being called pathetic, especially by a celebrity. "It's Midorikawa, OK!" he blurted.

A sly smile formed on Zakuro's face. "Strange..." she mused, "I don't know anyone by the name of 'Midorikawa'. What's her first name?"

Ryou could see that the pop-model was trying to trick him; Minto had made a similar comment about surnames and first names earlier. "I can't call her by her first name," he pointed out. "I barely even know her...personally, I mean..."

Zakuro giggled. "Don't worry. I know who you're talking about."

Ryou folded his arms.

"Well," the wolf-girl continued: "I hope you know that she feels the same way about you as you do about her."

"What?" The blonde boy was shocked.

"Remember that day last winter when you two were on that boat looking for Mew Aqua?"

Ryou nodded. Of course he remembered.

"Well, that day when the Kimera-anima knocked you into the water, she dived off the boat not to defeat the alien, but to save you."

Ryou sighed. He wished Zakuro's memory wasn't so good. He also wondered how she knew all this. Only he and Lettuce were on the boat that day. Zakuro was...somewhere else.

"And remember the party boat? Well, you gave her the courage to save the baby that was being drowned by the alien. She wouldn't have dived off the boat and made such a daring rescue if it wasn't for you."

Now Ryou really wished Zakuro's memory wasn't so good. "Big whoop," he said sardonically. "I bet she would've dived after that Aoyama guy if he was knocked in the water."

"But she wouldn't have kissed that Aoyama guy."

"What!"

"Enough about that," Zakuro said coolly, but was interrupted by Ryou.

"Whadya mean she wouldn't have kissed Aoyama? Where are you going with this?" the blonde boy demanded.

Zakuro sighed. "When she saved you, she kissed you; and then the Kirema-anima was defeated by the aura of light that was made by her affections towards you," the wolf-girl explained. "Anyways, I'm trying to get a point across here. She feels the same way about you as you do about her."

"Oh."

"Well, let's get on with this," Zakuro continued. "I'm assuming Ringo was trying to get you to put on a show for Lettuce to impress her, eh?"

Ryou nodded irritatingly. "Yep," he said.

"Well, I don't think that's necessary. Why don't you just tell her the truth, without all that fancy stuff?"

Ryou blushed. "I couldn't possibly do that," he admitted.

"I always knew you aren't very good at admitting your feelings, Shirogane," Zakuro observed.

"Humph."

"Well, repeat after me: I..."

"I-I..."

"Love..."

"L-l-love..."

"You."

"Y-y-y- I can't do it!"

Zakuro sighed. "C'mon Shirogane, you can do it."

"No I can't."

"Let's try again. Repeat after me: I...love...you."

"I-I-I can't do it!"

The pop-model moaned. "Well, apparently that won't work."

"Umph."

Suddenly, Zakuro's face brightened up, a rarity for her. "Why don't you give her this?" she suggested. She pulled out a CD from her waitress uniform pocket and handed it to Ryou.

"What's this?" Ryou asked.

"What does it look like? It's my newest hit album: 'Only You'."

"So?"

Zakuro sighed. "Think of it as a Japanese-version of what Ringo just sang, except more mature and in-tune."

Ryou eyed the wolf-girl suspiciously. "You want me to give her a CD full of love songs?"

Zakuro glared at the boy. "What's wrong with that?" she demanded.

Ryou took a step back. "Nothing's wrong with that..." he said nervously.

"Will you give it to her?" the pop-model inquired. "Because I'm practically giving you a 5000 yen CD for free."

"Y-yeah, yeah...sure...I'll give it to-" Ryou started, but was cut off.

"Shirogane-san!" a very chirpy voice called out from the now-open doorway.

Ryou and Zakuro turned around to find that the voice belonged to Berry.

"Shirogane-san, where are the coffee mugs you wanted us to coun-" Berry started in a cheerful tone, but stopped when she saw that Ryou and Zakuro were in the middle of a discussion.

"Oops...I'm sorry..." the French-Japanese girl said softly. "Am I disturbing you?"

Zakuro turned her attention away from Ryou and walked over to Berry. She ushered the younger girl into the room and said to her in French: "No, you're not disturbing us; we were just finished. Actually you came just in time,"

"Really?" Berry replied, also in French. "What do you need me for?"

Zakuro bent over and whispered in Berry's ear: "Shirogane has a crush, and he needs help expressing his feelings for her."

"Oh, I see." Berry giggled gleefully.

Zakuro turned back to Ryou. She said to him in Japanese: "Well, I'll just leave you two alone for now. I need to check on the other girls." The wolf-girl winked at Berry and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Upon Zakuro's exit, Ryou turned to Berry and questioned her angrily: "What was that all about?"

Berry folded her arms. "You'll see," she said to him, this time speaking in Japanese.


	6. Languages, Handwriting, and Berry

--

Chapter 6: Foreign Languages, Fancy Writing, and Berry

A/N: Sooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating for such a long time. I know a lot of you really wanted me to finish this story, but I've really been busy with schoolwork lately. (Really, I'm starting to feel as if the Ivy League is seriously overrated.)

Well, I'm on vacation right now... sort of. I've returned home to visit friends and relatives for a few weeks. So here I am, halfway across the globe from most of you, with a bit of spare time, so I guess I'll finish something that I've put off for way too long. Even though I haven't watched any anime at all for the past... Idk... long long time...

BTW, I don't speak French. Nope, yo hablo espanol. So I'll save the trouble. Haha...

--

"Tell me what that was all about!" Ryou demanded angrily.

Berry paced back and forth across the room happily. "Oh, nothing," she sang cheerfully.

"Zakuro and I just had a friendly conversation."

Ryou was losing his patience for, like, the umpteenth time today. "Friendly conversation about what?" he asked anxiously.

Berry grinned. "About you and a certain girl we all know, of course!"

Ryou groaned. He knew pretty darn well who this "certain girl we all know" was. He was sort of beginning to wish he didn't like her so much.

Berry looked over at the desk and saw the stuff the other girls had made earlier. She decided to try to side-track the blonde boy. Then, she saw the CD he was holding. "Shirogane, why don't you put that CD down on your desk?" the bunny-girl suggested craftily.

Ryou could sense a trick coming. "Uhhh...why...?" he asked suspiciously.

Berry copied Ichigo's famous welcome-to-the-café pose. "Because..." she sing-songed, " we wouldn't want to get the sweat and germs from your hands onto it! You might damage it!"

Ryou furrowed his eyebrows. "Shirayuki, it's in a CD case..."

Berry stuck out her tongue cutely. "So...?"

Ryou sighed. "Whatever, Shirayuki." He started walking toward the desk, but the bunny-girl stopped him. He moaned. "What is it NOW, Shirayuki?"

Berry smiled cheerfully and took the CD from him. "Allow me!" she offered in a sugary tone and skipped toward the desk.

Ryou slapped his forehead (which was becoming very red and bruised). But he decided to go along with it anyway.

When Berry got to the desk and saw all the stuff the other girls had made, she became very giddy. When she saw the letter Ryou had written, she got even giddier. After she had thoroughly read the letter, she was giddy beyond biological possibility.

Ryou, on the other hand, thought that if there was another millimeter of giddiness, he would blow. "What is it, Shirayuki?" he demanded angrily.

Berry burst into a full-out-frenzy of giddiness. "You wrote a letter to her!! How sweet, Shirogane!!"

Ryou rolled his eyes, folded his arms, and sighed.

"But it needs a little work, though."

Ryou gritted his teeth.

"It's too formal. You could be a little friendlier and less...stiff."

Ryou looked confused. "Stiff?" he questioned perplexingly.

Berry scratched her head. "Yeah..." she said thoughtfully. "Like...here you say 'I give you my best wishes for you to get well soon'. Don't you think you can be a little less formal? I mean, you've known her for, like, over a year now."

Ryou sighed and stared out the window.

Suddenly, Berry's face brightened up with giddiness. "Hey, Shirogane, why don't you let ME help you write the letter?" she suggested giddily.

Ryou was very green around the gills from all the giddiness. "Sure, whatever," he stated plainly, not thinking about what he had just launched himself into.

"Great!" she exclaimed with all the giddiness she could muster.

Ryou gagged and handed Berry a pen and a sheet of paper.

Berry happily took the pen and paper. "So..." the blonde girl said giddily to herself while sitting down at Ryou's desk, "where should we start?" She painstakingly wrote something in fancy cursive letters.

On the other hand, Ryou lay down on his bed again and continued counting his ceiling tiles.

After about 10 minutes, Ryou bent over Berry's shoulders and examined her work. "What is that?" he spat. "If you're trying to write in English, then you're REALLY on the wrong track."

Berry turned around to face the older boy. "No silly, it's French," she stated plainly and rolled her eyes.

Ryou sighed. "How is she supposed to read French?"

It was Berry's turn to sigh. "She's not, Shirogane. Because you're going to read it to her."

"I can't speak French," Ryou stated in a very confused manner.

"French is the same as English. Pretty much," Berry said. She added a few more lines to her now-finished letter and handed it to the blonde boy. "Read," she commanded.

Ryou looked at the paper, thoroughly puzzled. Then he squinted his eyes. "What's that little line thing over the 'a'?" he asked.

Berry looked at where his finger was pointed on the paper. "That's an accent mark," she explained. "You put a stress on that syllable."

"Oh," Ryou answered and studies the letter some more. Finally he cleared his throat and started to read aloud. Unfortunately, because he was a native English speaker, his French pronunciation wasn't exactly top-notch.

The blonde girl listened with amusement as the blonde boy butchered the French language through trying to read her letter.

Ryou faltered and stumbled over the French words, reading them with an American accent. Berry tried to stifle her laughter as she watched him like he was a young animal at play.

When he tried to make one of those throaty French sounds, he ended up croaking like a frog, which sent the blonde into a frenzy of mental giggles.

When he accidentally put a stress on the wrong syllable and ended up saying a profane word instead, Berry had to smack herself to keep from exploding with laughter.

This went on for a while. It was until the last sentence of the letter when Ryou tried to make a nasal sound and ended up making something of a pig snort. Finally the bunny-girl couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing.

Ryou automatically stopped reading and glared at the French-Japanese girl. "What are you laughing at?" he demanded as he popped a vein.

"Shirogane, just stop," Berry said, covering her mouth as she giggled. "You're getting it all wrong."

"Am I?" Ryou asked sarcastically and rolled his eyes, irritated.

"How about this," Berry suggested. "I'll just write out a Japanese translation for you. Then you can read that to Lettuce-chan. Because I think she'll be even sicker if she heard you trying to read French."

"Well, try to make it readable," Ryou said to the bunny-girl. "Your French handwriting was too fancy-ish. It nearly burned my eyes out."

"Alrighty!" Berry replied, giddy as usual. She turned the French letter over and started writing in her native Japanese on the back of the paper.

_What is that girl thinking? Midorikawa doesn't even speak French, _Ryou thought. _Or does she?_ He wasn't sure. After all, they knew each other, but not THAT well.

Moments later, Berry finished writing the Japanese rendition of her letter. However, as soon as Ryou had read it, he immediately shoved it back into the bunny-girl's hands.

"What do you mean by this?" the blonde boy demanded? "I want to write her a get-well-soon letter, not a marriage proposal!"

"Really? I didn't know that!" the blonde girl said with all the giddiness she could muster (which was a lot).

"Seriously, Shirayuki, I don't think this letter is appropriate," the blonde boy said.

"Yes, it is," the blonde girl insisted. "I don't see any better words to express your true feelings. Oh... love is cruel, isn't it, Shirogane?"

Ryou grabbed a bunch of his hair and pulled on it ferociously. He was about to send Berry out of his room when a familiar voice called from downstairs.

"Berry-chan! Another cake needs to be delivered!"

It was Tasuku. Normally, Ryou didn't care much for the younger boy, but this time he felt as if Berry's little boyfriend had really saved his life.

"Coming, Tasuku-kun!" Berry called giddily. Then to Ryou, she said, "Sorry Shirogane, I have to go. But remember to give her the letter!" The blonde girl winked, and then skipped out the door and down the stairs.

_Talk about saved by the bell!_ Ryou thought, then sighed. He crumbled up Berry's letter and tossed it on his desk with the rest of the stuff the other girls had made. _Shirayuki is right... love is cruel. _He promptly smacked himself for thinking about love again, and then proceeded to counting his ceiling tiles.

At that very moment... giddy Berry was throwing Tasuku into the game as well! Oooooohhh...


	7. Truthfulness, Purity, and Tasuku

Truthfulness, Honesty, and Tasuku

Truthfulness, Purity, and Tasuku

A/N: OK, I am going to finish this chapter before I return to Beijing on the 15th. That's my goal. I won't update anymore in Beijing. Too busy. I will need to wait until I get back to the U.S. Then we'll see... but hopefully by then I will have finished this story. Phew...

For all the mosquito bites I've gotten down here, Buddha better get me into an Ivy League school. After all, I'm a pretty devout Buddhist and a pretty good student. And I've done a whole lot of praying lately. Not to brag or anything...

--

Ryou was happily counting his ceiling tiles when there was a knock at his bedroom door.

He was immediately kicked out of his ceiling-tile Lala Land. "What?" he screeched.

"It's me," a young male voice came from outside of the door.

_Too young to be Keiichiro... not annoying enough to be Aoyama..._ Ryou figured it out. It must be Tasuku. "Come in," the blonde boy said, a little unwillingly.

The door opened and Tasuku walked in. Ryou somehow felt a bit of relief. "What is it?" the older boy asked.

"I've come to help you with your problem," Tasuku stated straightforwardly.

Ryou sighed and motioned the younger boy to sit down at his desk. "OK. Shoot," the blonde boy said and sat down on his bed.

"I know that the rest of the Mew Mews have come in and visited you today, and they've given you a lot of really good ideas. But I don't think any of their ideas are just right."

The blonde boy moaned inwardly. _Here we go again..._

"You see, Shirogane," the younger boy continued, "I have a lot of experience with this type of thing. When it comes to love, purity is the most important thing."

Ryou stared at Tasuku. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, everything the Mew Mews have made is really nice. But I don't think any of it is necessary. What Midorikawa will like the best is for you to show your true person, without the laces and frills. You don't need fancy drawings or expensive CDs to express your love for a person. Just go up to her and be yourself. Tell her in your own natural words how you feel about her. That will make her the happiest, and it will let her know that you really do love her. Girls don't need to be wooed with lots of expensive things to love a man. All they need is pure, undying love from one special person. Besides, Midorikawa doesn't look like a gold digger."

Ryou felt a bolt of enlightenment jolt through his body. He felt as if the younger boy's words really did have meaning. He sat in silence for a long time, chewing on Tasuku's words. At last the blonde boy muttered dazily, "Thank you, Meguro."

Tasuku looked surprised at first, but then he smiled. "You're welcome, Shirogane. Any time."

The two boys sat in silence for a few moments. Then Tasuku stood up and walked towards the door. "I have to go, Shirogane," the younger boy said. He opened the door and stepped out, but before he completely walked away, he said, "Remember, the purest love is the best one. Good luck!"

Ryou sat on his bed, lost in thought. Fragments of Tasuku's "speech" ran like a blur in his mind. _Without the laces and frills... show your true person... don't need expensive things... just be yourself... the purest love is the best one... _That last sentence really stuck to him. That's when he made up his mind. His thoughts returned back to the letter he had been writing before the Mew Mews had barged in. He was going to finish that letter.

With that, the blonde boy took a clean sheet of paper from his printer and grabbed a pen. He promptly began to write. The words came onto the page in a smooth flow, as if they were destined to be there. Soon, he was finished. He folded the paper neatly and gently placed it into an envelope he had nearby. He closed the seal carefully and got ready to visit Lettuce. After all, even though it had been a tiring day, it still wasn't very late yet. He grabbed the envelope and walked out the door. 


End file.
